In general, the mood in the museum’s auditorium — where 582 tickets had been handed out — was rather rough-and-tumble. Early in the debate, a heckler jeered the mayor, interrupting the discussion. And while Bloomberg supporters in the crowd tried their best to clap loudly when the mayor made a point, supporters of Mr. Thompson repeatedly interrupted. At one point, when Mr. Bloomberg said, “I’m not out there buying votes,” one man shouted, “Yes, you are.” The disruptions got to the point that Mr. Carter warned that the police might have to be called in to remove unruly members of the audience.

Closing Thoughts

8 p.m. | The closing statements were similar to the opening ones. Mr. Bloomberg said the city’s best days are ahead of it, while Mr. Thompson made an appeal to middle- and working-class homeowners and residents, saying that property taxes, water rates and transit fares had soared during the last seven years. “The people of New York City aren’t for sale,” Mr. Thompson said, forcefully.

Say Something Nice

7:58 p.m. | Mr. Carter asked each man to say something nice about the other — a question that has become a commonplace in such debates.

Mr. Bloomberg: “He’s a great golfer, and we’ve done a lot of things together, and we’ve had good times together.”

Mr. Thompson: “I think the mayor is well-dressed and his golf game has shown great improvement. At the same time, eight is enough.”

“Obviously, eight is enough when you violate the will of the people and overturn term limits,” Mr. Thompson countered.

The Homeless

7:54 p.m. | Michael Scotto — noting the record-high number of homeless people in the city — asked what Mr. Thompson would do about the problem given current fiscal constraints. Mr. Thompson called for the construction of more affordable housing, while Mr. Bloomberg, noting that the federal government has cut back on Section 8 vouchers, said a city program had moved homeless families into permanent housing. The homeless-services system has become more humane and effective under his tenure, the mayor said.

The ‘Nanny State’

7:54 p.m. | Juan Manuel Benítez asked about the role of government in regulating behavior. The mayor — who has banned indoor smoking and trans fats and has embarked on a war against obesity — said that public health accomplishments were real: “The bottom line is, today in New York City, our life expectancy is greater than in the country as a whole for the first time since World War II.”

When it comes to unsafe behavior, it is government’s place to “warn you” and “if it is serious, try to prevent it,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

Mr. Thompson pointed to enduring health disparities, noting that East Harlem — the site of the debate — had higher rates of asthma and diabetes than other neighborhoods.

Police ‘Stop and Frisk’ Searches

7:51 p.m. | Adam Lisberg of The Daily News asked Mr. Thompson about the large number of “stop and frisk” searches by the Police Department — a tactic the comptroller has said he supports. The vast majority of those stopped by the police in such searches are black or Hispanic.

Mr. Thompson acknowledged the racial dimension, said it was important to strike a balance between public safety and respect for civil liberties, and added that “stop and frisk” searches had been vastly overused.

Mr. Bloomberg, who has promoted crime reductions as a major achievement of his administration, noted that a majority of police officers are members of racial minority groups. Trainers go into the Police Academy to get police cadets ready for the tough streets — they even “harangue them and stir them up,” the mayor said. He called the “stop and frisk” tactic an “effective tool” to continue bringing crime down.

Land Use, Rezoning and Water Rates

7:47 p.m. | Brian Lehrer asked the mayor whether the vast rezoning of city neighborhoods had been, on balance, a good thing. Many critics have accused Mr. Bloomberg of being too supportive of developers. Mr. Bloomberg responded that the land-use changes under his administration had struck a good “balance” between neighborhood livability and economic growth.

Mr. Thompson painted a starker, more negative picture: luxury buildings sitting vacant, “middle-class and working-class New Yorkers being squeezed and pushed out of their neighborhoods,” and higher water and utility rates. He called for “smart growth and fair growth.” He vowed to “take a second look” at the rezoning of the Far West Side of Manhattan — an area that was the focus of the Bloomberg administration’s redevelopment plans, and where the mayor called for a football stadium, a proposal that fell apart in 2005.

Mr. Bloomberg said that Staten Island lacked adequate rental housing. “I think the future of the city for real estate is still quite strong,” the mayor said. “People are moving here. … Our population continues to go up.”

The two men disagreed on whether middle-income families have in fact moved out of the city.

On water rates, Mr. Bloomberg said that most rate increases were imposed by the federal or state governments or by the courts. Mr. Thompson said that residents were being “overcharged” and “gouged.” He called water fees a “back-door property tax” — an issue that could resonate with homeowners.

Cross-Examination

7:37 p.m. | Each candidate got to ask the other a question. Mr. Bloomberg asked why Mr. Thompson has said he would replace Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, given the city’s success at reducing crime. Mr. Thompson replied, “I believe in bringing my own team to the table.”

Mr. Bloomberg said that public safety was too important to politicize, adding, “You’ve got to look to the best, and we have the best.”

Mr. Thompson asked about Mr. Bloomberg’s departure from the Republican Party, his support, then reversal on term limits, and his endorsement by the Independence Party.

Mr. Bloomberg said that he became a Republican because he was offered the party’s line in 2001 and that he became an independent — in 2007 — because it “better reflected my nonpartisan views.”

Mr. Thompson said Mr. Bloomberg had tried to “buy” the support of various political parties.

Lightning Round: Yes or No

7:35 p.m. | “I hate this,” Mr. Thompson said of this round.

Do you exercise daily? Mr. Bloomberg: Yes. Mr. Thompson: No.

Would Rudy Giuliani be a good governor? Mr. Thompson: No. Mr. Bloomberg: Yes.

Should there be a public option as part of a national health insurance overhaul? Each man said yes.

Should more troops be sent to Afghanistan? Mr. Bloomberg: “Yes, but this is not a topic for a one-word answer. There’s lives on the line here. That’s not cute.” Mr. Thompson: Yes.

Is Pedro Espada Jr. a better majority leader of the State Senate than Joe Bruno was? Mr. Thompson: Yes. Mr. Bloomberg, chuckling: No. (The mayor was a strong supporter of Mr. Bruno, the former Republican leader.)

7:31 p.m. | Michael Scotto asked whether the mayor’s extensive contributions to philanthropy — more than $200 million a year — effectively insulate the mayor from criticism and “buy” the political support of the nonprofit groups.

Mr. Bloomberg denied the accusations, saying that Mr. Thompson had accepted campaign contributions from money managers even as the city’s pension systems have lagged behind those of other governmental entities in their performance.

The mayor said that most of the recipients of his philanthropy do not necessarily know who the giver is — a claim that seemed hard to believe. “I’m very proud of the monies I’ve been able to give away each year,” he said.

Mr. Thompson said Mr. Bloomberg had engaged in “pay-to-endorse” politics, noting the role of nonprofit groups in supporting the term limits change. And the comptroller noted that the mayor is the chairman of the boards of four of the city’s five pension funds. Mr. Thompson said his political career had been characterized by complete integrity and said it was shameful for the mayor to suggest that pension business had been given to investment firms in exchange for their support of Mr. Thompson.

“No one has ever received favor from my office for a nickel of contributions, so let’s end that nonsense now,” Mr. Thompson said.

Mr. Bloomberg responded — in Spanish — that 40 percent of managers in city government, and 30 percent of mayoral appointees, were “people of color.” But pressed by Mr. Benítez about diversity, the mayor said he did not believe ethnicity should be a primary factor in such appointments.

(As the mayor began to answer, several people in the crowd laughed loudly, mocking his Spanish. This seemed to make Mr. Bloomberg flustered, causing him to fidget with his fingers.)

Mr. Thompson, in his rejoinder, said that probably “close to 60 percent” of his office was made up of people of color.

The City Schools

7:20 p.m. | Adam Lisberg of The Daily News said that teacher salaries had increased by 43 percent, and school-related operating expenses by 55 percent, during Mr. Bloomberg’s tenure. Does the school system warrant those increases? he asked.

Mr. Bloomberg said the numbers were misleading because of inflation. Teacher salaries are competitive with those in other jurisdictions, and are essential for improving teacher quality, he said.

“Teachers are the key to education, and if you want the best, you’ve got to pay them,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

Now Mr. Thompson’s turn. Asked by Mr. Lisberg why he had not been more vocal about schools in the last seven years, Mr. Thompson said he had spoken out on the standardized-testing requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, as well as lack of transparency, and waste, at the city’s Department of Education.

Term Limits

7:17 p.m. | Brian Lehrer pressed the mayor, noting that the mayor had once been a strong supporter of term limits — which voters twice backed at the polls, in 1993 and 1996. Mr. Bloomberg said the voters have “more choice” by having him on the ballot. Mr. Thompson said Mr. Bloomberg had failed to “adhere to the rules.” He added, “To turn around then later and say, that’s not what the people of New York City meant” is hypocritical.

“It is wrong,” Mr. Thompson said. “Mike Bloomberg lied to the people of New York City.”

Mr. Bloomberg did say, to prompting from Mr. Lehrer, that he would not seek a fourth term. (The mayor has said this before.)

One audience member shouted, “For now!”

7:14 p.m. | Brian Lehrer asked about Mr. Bloomberg’s support of the City Council bill last year that extended the term limits, allowing the mayor to seek a third four-year term.

Mr. Thompson used the question as an opening to attack the mayor, saying that Mr. Bloomberg’s actions amounted to a betrayal of democracy.

Mr. Bloomberg largely shrugged off Mr. Lehrer’s question, saying, “In the end, on Nov. 3, we’ll have a vote on what really matters.”

Mayoral Control of the Schools

7:12 p.m. | In response to the first question, Mr. Thompson again tried to make the debate a referendum on Mr. Bloomberg. “The mayor has spent an obscene amount of money to distort my record and to try to rewrite history,” Mr. Thompson said. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” Mr. Thompson said of Mr. Bloomberg’s claims regarding the school system’s state in the 1990s.

Mr. Bloomberg shot back, “We got mayoral control as much because when he ran it, the schools were terrible.” Only after the Legislature and the public said “No más,” the mayor said, did the schools come under the mayor’s control (in 2002).

Mr. Bloomberg compared Mr. Thompson’s tenure as Board of Education president to rearranging the “deck chairs on the Titanic.” Mr. Thompson retorted that mayoral control would not have been possible “if it wasn’t for the work that I did” as Board of Education president.

The Campaign’s Negative Tone

7:06 p.m. | The first question of the debate was asked by Mr. Carter, who asked about the increasingly negative tone of the campaign and questioned the mayor’s campaign spending attacking his rival. “I’m not attacking Mr. Thompson — I’m trying to set the record straight,” Mr. Bloomberg said. He then proceeded to attack Mr. Thompson, criticizing Mr. Thompson’s custodianship of the school system during his tenure as president of the defunct Board of Education in the 1990s.

Opening Statements

7:05 p.m. | Mr. Thompson used his opening statement to attack the mayor for spending lavishly in his 2001 and 2005 campaigns — and again this year. “You have chosen to spend close to $200 million, Mike, to distort the record and to rewrite history,” he said.

The comptroller also accused the mayor of changing the law to “undermine” term limits that voters had approved at the polls.

7:05 p.m. | Both men have trotted out some basic Spanish. Mr. Thompson said, “Buenas noches a todos” in his opening remarks, while Mr. Bloomberg thanked the crowd for its “hospitalidad.”

7:04 p.m. | The mayor — seeming unfazed after being heckled — used his opening statement to compare the city’s state now to its condition after 9/11. “I know we can do it again,” he said, vowing that “the best days for New York are ahead.”

A Heckler Interrupts

7:02 p.m. | Mr. Bloomberg’s opening statement was interrupted by a jeering heckler — later identified as Billy Talen, a Green Party candidate for mayor — who shouted epithets attacking the mayor’s support of legislation last year extending term limits to allow himself to seek another term.

“Eight is enough!” he shouted. “Mike, what are you doing here? We voted for term limits.”

Mr. Carter said, “I apologize for that,” and allowed the mayor to continue.

“Not a problem — it is New York,” the mayor said gamely.

7:00 p.m. | Dominic Carter, the host of the debate, introduced it by noting that it was sponsored by the Campaign Finance Board. The panelists are Brian Lehrer of WNYC Radio; Adam Lisberg of The Daily News; Juan Manuel Benítez of NY1 Noticias; and Michael Scotto of NY1.

Mr. Thompson, wearing a blue tie, took the stage first, to lusty applause from his supporters. Then Mr. Bloomberg, wearing a red tie, stepped onto the podium. Each man wore a dark suit.

The Scene Before the Debate

6:58 p.m. | Around the corner from Mr. Thompson’s supporters, a crowd of about 500 Bloomberg supporters lined 104th Street from Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue.

Many at the rally wore shirts and jackets showing off their union affiliation. They said they were plumbers and ironworkers, and they held signs that read, “Labor for Mike.”

A man with a bullhorn went down the rows of people stirring up the crowd with chants of, “Four more years!”

A woman ran by with a campaign poster of Mr. Thompson, and the crowd booed loudly.

When Mr. Bloomberg arrived about 6:30 p.m., his supporters were in a frenzy. Surrounded by security, he walked along the street shaking hands, with a smile on his face that seemed to convey that he was humbled by all the support.

Reporters and cameramen chased after the mayor, some even falling over garbage bags in their haste.

6:51 p.m. | Outside El Museo del Barrio, the site of the debate, about 200 supporters of Mr. Thompson waved campaign posters and chanted: “Eight is enough!” and “Take a hike, Mike!”

City buses, passing Mr. Thompson’s supporters, honked their horns as they passed the museum, on Fifth Avenue between 104th and 105th Streets.

About 6:20 p.m., Mr. Thompson arrived and crossed Fifth Avenue to greet his supporters, smiling and shaking hands, as the crowd erupted with cheers.

The Game Plan

Aides to Mr. Thompson, who is well behind in the polls, view this as a rare opportunity to stand on the same stage as the mayor, who has bombarded voters with television advertisements and brochures. Their goal: introduce Mr. Thompson to voters, who still know little about him, and diminish Mr. Bloomberg’s standing.

Mr. Bloomberg’s game plan is to defend his handling of the economy and school system, and to cast doubt about Mr. Thompson’s fitness to be mayor.

Also with Rev. Billy, two supporters of Frances Villar (the first woman of color on the ballot for mayor) were thrown out. The coverage of this debate and the 3rd party candidates in general have been so skewed. Stop ignoring the other candidates standing outside demanding their right to be part of the debate! Frances Villar for mayor of NYC!!

This is another futile excercise in grandstand, “FRAUD!”
What about the other seven candidates (7) why can’t the voters see and here from them too? I guess Al Capone would be very proud of Bloomberg and Thompson, da “Capo’s”.//www.CaptainDemocracy.wordpress.com

Some of us have still not forgotten Bloomberg’s mishandling of the Republican National Convention here, with scores of false arrests of innocent protesters, intimidation and so-called “free-speech zones” that protests were limited to. Why don’t we hear anything about that?

Term limits are the issue and the biggest issue. Bloomberg lied for 7 years and then when his advisors told him another referendum would once again show NYers favoured term limits, he used the excuse there was no way to set up a referendum and got his members of the City Council to upset the will of the people. He is a liar on this issue and also has no concept of the outer boroughs. Everything he is for Manhattan and Manhattan only. Remember the blackout in Queens three years ago? How he said oh Con Edison is doing the best it can and no big deal, nobody died. I am sure to this day that such a situation would not have been allowed to happen on the Mayor’s block and if it did, power would have been restored within hours but since it was Queens, it was no big deal to this mayor.

We have to get rid of him as well as some of his lackeys such as the unqualified uncertified incompetent chancellor Mr. Klein. Until Klein goes, the schools will continue to disintergrate.

The Billionaireberg spin doctors can say what they want but he came in a distant 2nd. Mike pays to have people endorse him and I saw that at the term limit hearings. All the people that get cash from his foundation and the city funds that go the way of friends of Billionaireberg. Ex gov. Mario Cuomo came to speak of Billionairebergs need for another term. Cuomo gets paid by a law firm that represents Bloomberg LLC so he knows were his bread is buttered and that’s why the money Billionaireberg doles out is one big problem to me. He’s like that movie “Meet John Doe” where a simple man is put up by rich backers so they can get political power but the other way around. With Billionaireberg he’s upfront with paying people off with “donations” as backing those that back him. To me it’s just a bribe.

Yes. He contradicted himself about the issue of Term Limits, first being for them, then backtracking and doing all he could to do away with them. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg simply put is: competent.

He is the best person to lead NYC. He knows business, he knows how to attract investments, how to create jobs, how to fix potholes and do all the mundane everyday task of the municipality, and he knows how to lead the City in the short and long-term.

We need a competent Mayor who can lead and get things done.

That is why I will vote to reelect Mayor Bloomberg. I encourage all New Yorkers to also vote for the best qualified candidate for the job, el Alcalde Bloomberg.

how dumb does the mayor think we are? the bit about how he didn’t really flip flop parties to run for president? trying to justify his term limit steam rolling because we “are in difficult times.” aren’t difficult times when we need to behave with even greater integrity? isn’t that the real test of character?

to me it comes down to character – do we want a mayor that betrays democracy in his own city? not listening to the people who trusted him by electing him? but it’s not just term limits. look at his homelessness policies. when he says he wants to reunify homeless people with their famiiies it is code for buying them a one-way ticket to somewhere else. if that doesn’t work, then he’ll charge them rent at shelters to help get the shelters numbers down. this is a character issue – how can you charge homeless people rent?? this is NY, is this how we want our city to be known?

I believe in term limits. Unless someone has done something incredibly remarkable, 2 terms is sufficient. Sorry Bloomberg, that’s it. You can’t buy and dictate your way through this city. You started out BAD, then got better, and I know you’re in a new place where you finally feel like you have a grasp of the job, but it’s time to go.

No, Bloomberg is not my favorite, but I will definitely vote for Bloomberg in Nov.

I can disagree with Bloomberg and still feel he is bright and competent and surrounds himself with similar folk. The city seems secure under Bloomberg. Thompson, in contrast, conducts himself like an old-style machine hack.

Both candidates are competent. Both men have financial and political experience. Bloomberg has to leave at some point, whether in 4 months or 4 more years. If Thompson wins, all the good things which we have gained these past 8 years will not simply vanish! The city will not cease to exist when Bloomberg leaves. So, let him leave now so we can get on with our lives.

It was great to see a cocky Brooklyn politician trying to take the king’s crown off.Bloomberg is so out of touch it is pathetic really.He has a city with the most number of homeless since the great depression,and he has nothing to say about that.He has a city with the biggest job lost in the nation,and he has nothing to say about that.He has a police force that stops and frisks over 600,000 New Yorkers (90 percent found completely innocent) a year,and he has nothing to say about that.His great work is just an illusion from the bubble he lives in,believed by those close to the bubble.Not outer borough folks who can see what is going on.

is it acceptable that the top jobs in New York and New Jersey
were bought…

and may well be bought again, by the likes of the greeedy
Wall Streeters Bloomberg and Corzine.

Bloomberg, beside the buying, went to Israel during the Gaza war that horrified the world, and showed his face to show he stood with the savages. A great boon to America.

And since he spent millions on a new train facility for Israel, since his own city of New York needed nothing at all.

New Yorkers, like congress, apparently feel a dual loyalists are good enough.. And if they can keep the greedy Wall Streeters far, far away from the 95 per cent of Americans who
don’t get $100 bonuses. Keep them in a special, separate place.

I also believe in term limits, but more importantly I believe in a mayor for the greatest city in the world to be COMPETENT.

I WILL vote for Bloomberg, he is doing a great job and now is not the time for some power hungry buffoon to jump in, wreck the police force that we have that since 2001 we have not had a terrorist attack here, and let the city run into the ground. No thanks,

For me, the choice has to be Bloomberg. I had rather have a competent, experienced, independent mayor who
a. has led the city through an extremely difficult time
b. who has been highly successful in arenas other than politics and
c. who doesn’t owe donors and politicos favors all over the place.
He is so much more preferable to an inexperienced and less capable contender. As to extending term limits, I don’t like that, but there is a lot I don’t like about politicians. Sometimes you have to hold your nose and take the medicine. I did not like Koch’s bravado-laden or Dinkins’ passive administrations — neither of them were effective. None of these guys are angels, all of them have twisted the system and trodden on others on their way up, so if you are looking for a squeaky clean knight in shining armor, you are going to be looking for a loooooong time.

Complicated … I attended a speech Mike gave before he was mayor, stating his desire to open municipal elections to everyone, including the unaffiliated. He then ran as a republican. I did not vote for him then, nor the second term (although he was clearly a better choice than Ferrer) — I felt anyone who would ally themselves with the party of bush/cheney did not deserve my vote.
Now Mike is finally independent, so maybe I can, in good conscience, vote for him this time …
I did vote for Thompson as Comptroller, but am not convinced he’s mayoral material.
It has come to my attention that Thompson, along with other key Bloomberg administration, would dispense with Bloomberg’s excellent DOT commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, and in fact dismantle much of her innovative urban planning initiatives.
Markowitz’ endorsement and Mike’s embrace of Bruno and Giulliani frankly scare me, so while I’ll be watching and listening closely, mark me as of now: “undecided, leaning Bloomberg.”

“Eight is enough” is not enough of a case for me to vote for Thompson. He lacks substance and where he has given details about his platform, he’s completely pie-in-the-sky, particularly given the harsh economic realities we’re facing.

Also, he may as well have shredded his resume — he denied responsibility for schools as Board President, for pensions as Comptroller. What’s he going to say if criticized for his job as Mayor?

I don’t love Bloomberg, but he is a pragmatic progressive and he is competent and realistic. He has my vote.

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